IBM Accelerates Virtual Desktop With Breakthrough Solution
IBM announced a powerful new solution to help organizations slash virtual desktop infrastructure storage requirements by up to 80 percent, allowing them to take advantage of new cloud computing models at significantly reduced costs while increasing energy efficiency. The new phase of "cloud computing" gives end-users access to the critical information they need remotely, from any device, anywhere. IBM helps organizations benefit from this new model with its Virtual Infrastructure Access (VIA) services that give end users with internet enabled PCs and other devices the ability to access applications and data through a centrally managed computing environment. The solution also allows organizations to streamline operations by creating new desktop images in mere seconds or minutes, a process which previously could take up to 30 minutes -- a 75% reduction in the time required to create and deploy new virtual machines.

Verint Expands Performance Management Offering with Launch of Coaching Solution
Following on the launch of its next-generation Impact 360 Workforce Optimization suite, Verint Systems Inc. announced its new Impact 360 Coaching solution. The software helps organizations enhance the customer experience by initiating, delivering and following up on personalized coaching sessions between employees and supervisors. Impact 360 Coaching, and its patent-pending features, is designed to help organizations enhance employee performance and proficiencies through personalized coaching sessions triggered by the software's native business integrations with key elements of WFO. By tying coaching together with scorecards, key performance indicators (KPIs), quality evaluations, training and other benchmark metrics, Impact 360 Coaching introduces a true, more formalized one-on-one learning process, helping employees develop and enhance the skills they need to be successful.

Social Networks, Knowledge Networks Are at the Heart of New Utilization-Based Workforce Management Application
Peoplenetz, a provider of enterprise-level strategy, HR, and analytics software, announced general availability of its Orgintelligentz 2.0 application. Orgintelligentz produces two fundamental network views of organizations. First, the application empowers development of a living database of all skills maintained by employees, as well as a real-time utilization rating for each employee-skill combination. This information is used to build detailed knowledge networks defining "who knows what" and to what extent. Next, the data-collection method introduced by Orgintelligentz is used to develop an organization-wide social network, making transparent to the organization "who knows who" and to what degree. These two powerful networks dynamically merge to provide a previously unattainable level of optimized project staffing, employee performance management, visualization of knowledge transfer, and identification of training needs.

The Strategic Impact of Support and Services on Company Revenue

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Cost-cutting in Enterprise IT Departments Hits Staff and Salaries
When enterprise IT departments have to make cuts of over five per cent of their budget, they're most likely to reduce staff, cut salaries, and eliminate vendors and outsourced contracts to achieve targets, says an Info-Tech Research Group study conducted this summer. Companies in the health care, transportation and manufacturing sectors in particular frequently achieve any necessary budget cuts through layoffs, citing rising fuel costs as a key driver for cost-cutting.

The Info-Tech study conducted this summer involved 167 surveys and 60 personal interviews with senior IT leaders at companies from a diverse mix of industries, primarily in the U.S. and Canada. Companies surveyed said that IT staff reductions have typically been comprised of:

• 44% entry-level and intermediate employees;
• 19% management staff;
• 17% contractors;
• 15% senior staff; and
• 5% consultants.

While cutting staff and salaries can deliver quick bottom-line benefits, reductions can also have a negative impact on morale of remaining staff and their ability to maintain IT service levels. As well, revenue-generation of the overall organization is negatively impacted in one-quarter (24%) of businesses surveyed.

Companies facing cutbacks should carefully consider all aspects of their business and their IT department spending to make wise decisions, says Info-Tech. Companies can often avoid large-scale layoffs if they implement staff training enabling employees to cover multiple functions and make staff cuts gradually, but that requires advance planning and best practices over time.

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Yankee Group Reports Declare the Anywhere Connectivity Revolution the Largest Technology Transformation Yet
Yankee Group has released two new reports that predict that the Anywhere connectivity revolution will be the largest technology transformation the world has yet seen, far surpassing the cultural and economic effects of the internet revolution. These Yankee Group Reports, The Anywhere Tipping Point and The Anywhere Economy, reveal that Anywhere connectivity is a global phenomenon, with the financial impact of the Anywhere Network soaring to nearly US$1 trillion in the next 5 years alone. The reports also forecast that 16 countries will reach the Anywhere "tipping point" by 2012, when the number of broadband lines will exceed the number of people in those regions.

Yankee Group defines Anywhere as the trend of ubiquitous connectivity, bringing the ability to connect all of us and the things we care about. The Anywhere revolution is being sparked by three trends: 1) the internet as a digital communications standard; 2) increasing demand for broadband capacity; and 3) the game-changing ubiquity of wireless networks. These catalysts are inciting a revolution whose impact will be far greater than the sum of these parts.

The reports also reveal that:

--The Anywhere Network already accounts for US$590 billion in spending annually and touches one out of seven people globally. Spending will grow to US$903 billion in 5 years.

--Two dozen countries around the world are now transforming because of increasing connectivity, with more than one broadband line for every three citizens today.

--Japan, Sweden and Italy will be the first countries to achieve the Anywhere tipping point, reaching more than one broadband line per person next year.

--Sixteen countries across many areas of Europe, North America and Asia will become Anywhere Economies by 2012.

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IT Decision Makers Believe Presidential Election Will Impact Tech Industry Budgets and Staffing
IT decision makers remain conservative about future growth expectations but anticipate change after the upcoming presidential election. The latest CDW IT Monitor, a bimonthly indicator of the direction, momentum and mindset of the IT marketplace, registered an overall reading of 73, holding steady with the June 2008 score. In the midst of this cautious outlook, four out of 10 IT decision makers say the upcoming presidential election will impact their businesses in areas such as budgets and staffing.

According to the CDW IT Monitor, the election will have the greatest impact on financial decisions in the IT marketplace. More than a third (36 percent) of IT decision makers report that the election results will impact department budget decisions, and 28 percent report that the outcome will have an effect on staffing/outsourcing decisions.

Showing a slight variance from the corporate sector, IT decision makers in government organizations report an increased level of confidence with an IT Monitor score of 74, a three point increase over June 2008. But these organizations anticipate an even greater impact from the upcoming elections than corporations. Three out of five federal IT decision makers expect the outcome of the election to have a significant impact on their organizations. Seventy-four percent of local government organizations and 63 percent of state government organizations cite budget, taxes and the deficit as the most important election issues.

Overall, IT decision makers are split evenly regarding which candidate they trust to handle issues of special concern to IT professionals, with 28 percent citing both John McCain and Barack Obama. IT issues identified as most important include tax policies (47 percent), data protection (38 percent) and offshore outsourcing (36 percent).

More...

Companies Embrace Workforce Planning to Reduce Staffing Pains
A new report by the Aberdeen Group found that organizations are placing greater emphasis on future workforce planning initiatives, in order to improve their ability to recruit and to retain the talent they anticipate will be needed in the short-term and long-term future. Workforce planning programs are especially important in light of the pains that organizations already report with finding talent in the workforce today, and with the impact of turnover of current staff. But preparing today's workforce to meet tomorrow's needs requires that an organization have a clear picture of the skills and capabilities in the organization currently, what gaps exist at present in terms of needed skills, and how that picture will be impacted by changes that lay ahead to the business.

Best-in-Class organizations are being aggressive at identifying emerging job roles and missions, at implementing career acceleration and leadership development programs, and at partnering with local schools and institutions to help develop future workers with needed skills. As a result of these efforts, Best-in-Class organizations have:

• Increased employee retention on average by 31%
• Improved workforce capacity utilization on average by 31%
• Increase employee performance on average by 27%
• Increased skills availability on average by 23%

The study also found that Best-in-Class organizations with respect to workforce planning programs are more likely to:

• Clearly understand the purpose of workforce planning
• Have established buy-in from senior corporative executives
• Understand the core competencies of key job roles

More...

Managing IT in a downturn: Beyond cost cutting
Economies around the world are slowing down, and companies are looking for ways to trim spending and improve the bottom line. Although information technology often represents a small fraction of the corporate cost base, senior executives inevitably turn their attention to IT budgets for substantial contributions. Yet in some instances, IT investments deliver more value to a company's top and bottom lines -- by creating new efficiencies and increasing revenues -- than any savings gained from traditional IT cost cutting. Except in the most dire circumstances, turning off technology investments during a downturn is counterproductive. When business picks up, you may lack critical capabilities. Besides, many technology investments can improve profitability in the short to medium term.
Full Article...

13 Reasons Why Agents Resign
Frontline turnover is one of the biggest headaches for call center managers. There are many reasons why agents quit. This article presents some of the most common, along with suggestions for boosting your retention rates.
Full Article...

Does a Tech Manager Need to Be Tech-Savvy?
To work in IT you have to have a tech background, right? Nope. With the right set of management skills, even a nontechnical person can make it as a successful manager. Sure, it helps to understand the bits and-bytes of each employee's area of expertise. If nothing else, it means the manager can appreciate what the staff does right and recognize weaknesses. But how can managers accurately evaluate team performance or assign tasks when they know little or nothing about what the individual does? According to some technical employees, the answer is communication.
Full Article...

A Place in the Cloud
Cloud computing is a rebranded form of "utility" computing, a less-clever but more-apt description for the underlying model: computing becomes a utility that you simply plug in to. Beyond its potential for greater economy, however, cloud computing has the potential to give business units faster, more-direct access to IT resources -- one of business computing's holy grails. However, do the benefits justify the risks?.
Full Article...

20 Great Ideas For You To Steal
Read this article and follow the lead of these innovative companies, which came up with ideas involving green technology, voice over IP, security, and more. .
Full Article...

Building Loyalty in a Web 2.0 World
Read the new white paper "Building Loyalty in a Web 2.0 World" and learn how to use the web 2.0 movement to your advantage.

For decades the support relationship between a company and its customers was well defined, but the old rules of customer engagement have been replaced by a customer-centric view. Customers now share information and solutions with each other, often bypassing support.

Can embracing the movement build customer satisfaction? Learn about:

• Rethinking the loyalty equation by understanding how to engage in this environment
• Using forums and knowledge management to power peer support
• Delivering a superior self-service experience

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2008 Service & Support Metrics Survey Results
Supportindustry.com has announced the release of a free white paper outlining the results of the 2008 Service & Support Metrics Survey. This annual survey explores the state of enterprise service and support -- current industry trends, future plans, technology adoption, workforce issues, benchmarking strategies, metrics and other areas.
Get your free copy of the survey results today!

2008 Service & Support Technology Showcase
The 2008 version of our Service & Support Technology Showcase is now available! This valuable, in-depth buyer’s guide features the latest tools and technologies in the support services industry that enable your support operation to deliver superior customer service.

Click here to find out more...

White Paper: Improving Customer Service Using Web-based Support Tools
In the realm of service and support, the Web has made its mark. Since a business's Web site is the first place many customers go today when they're in need of service, it's imperative that what they find there -- the search tools, the breadth and depth of content, easy escalation paths, the tools that aid in speedy resolution -- meets their needs. Each visit presents the business with the opportunity to impress and influence existing and potential customers.

Find out more! This informative white paper from SupportIndustry.com examines the latest trends and technologies in using Web-based support tools to improve customer service.
Click Here to Download...

Visit the SupportIndustry.com Blog
The SupportIndustry.com Blog is another way stay on top of the service and support industry. Our blog, updated at least once a week, is dedicated to covering the latest topics related to service and support, call center management, customer experience management, web-based support, help desks, workforce optimization and more.
Check it out today

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Carolyn Healey, Editor - chealey@supportindustry.com

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